New batch construction heuristics to optimise the performance of order picking systems

Two new batch construction heuristics called K-means Batching (KMB) and Self-organisation Map Batching (SOMB) are developed and verified by simulation experiments. Both KMB and SOMB have a preferment of superior performance in total travel distance and average picking vehicle utility, and even a conspicuous improvement in total CPU running time. Besides, this paper investigates the overall performance of order picking systems integrating storage assignment, order batching and picker routing to find the optimal policy combinations under different order types. The sensitivity analysis is performed to distinguish the relative importance of the various strategies to enhance the performance of operations management. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.